All things animal in Southern California and beyond

A look back at shark attacks

Shark attacks have rarely been fatal in California in recent years, but at least 28 have been reported since 2003, according to a list compiled by the Canoga Park-based Shark Research Committee.

What follows is a list of the fatal attacks in California since 2003:

2008April 25 - Swimmer near Solana Beach near San Diego.

2004Aug. 15 – Diver at Ten Mile River Beach, Fort Bragg.

2003Aug. 19 - Swimmer attacked in Avila Beach.

In 2005, Deborah Sullivan Brennan reported that experts think the rate in recent years is double the average of the previous 50 years, during which sharks struck 107 surfers, divers, kayakers or swimmers. Only one attack was reported in the half century before that, in 1926.